


Until the Heavens Know

by LittleSpacePrince



Series: To Build a Home [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Tony, Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Birth, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Bruce, Omega Bruce Banner, Omega Verse, this is us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 10:27:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13878939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSpacePrince/pseuds/LittleSpacePrince
Summary: Prompt:Everyone has a prized possession. What happens when your character loses theirs?In which cherished things are lost in the chaos.





	Until the Heavens Know

Sharp ridges burned into the flesh of his palm as he squeezed tight to the bottle cap necklace, sweat beading across his forehead as the contractions ripped through him. He choked down his screams, focusing entirely on the prickling of blood in his palm in some attempt to distract from the pain. He clenched his eyes shut hard, the red dancing across his eyelids as he struggled for breath. It almost felt as though he was being torn apart from the inside out, and he was convinced that, by the end of it, he probably would be. 

It was agony, pure and simple. He'd known to expect the pain, of course, he'd been a doctor for years, had delivered a handful of babies himself. But none of it could've prepared him for it, for such misery, for such pain. And they weren't even anywhere near pushing yet. 

“We’re at about six centimeters, Dr. Banner. We’re over halfway there. It won't be too much longer now.” A nurse informed as she offered a small smile in consolation, rising up from between his legs. Everyone and their mother had seen his hole, leaving him naked and exposed as his body prepared for birth, but he didn't have the energy to care about who saw him. The Big Three were coming _now,_ and he didn't have the will to care about modesty. 

In one hand he held to his necklace - a simple bottle cap that had been painted with the stars. His prized possession, something that he had drawn strength from since he was merely a child, the last thing that he had of his mother's. Everything else had been taken and pawned by his father before he'd been arrested for her murder, and all that was left was a little aluminum cap laced with string, worn around his neck. 

He wore it when he needed the strength that he didn’t have. He’d worn it through his first heat, and the heat when he and Tony had bonded, and the heats when they had decided to conceive. He’d worn it for three weeks after New York, as people began to recognize him as the Incredible Hulk and he was thrust into the spotlight for the first time. He’d worn it to face Thaddeus Ross, he’d worn it to see his mother’s grave, he’d worn it to his first ultrasound, and now, he would wear it during the birth of his children. 

In the other hand, he held Tony’s. Calloused fingers squeezed tight in his, lacing tightly and refusing to let go. In Tony, he found comfort, and strength, and an almost arrogant sense of knowing that everything was going to be alright. Despite everything that could go wrong, despite everything that had gone wrong, he knew that things were going to be okay. They had to be okay. 

“You’re doing great, baby.” Tony whispered, pressing a small kiss against his temple as the contraction eased and his body relaxed again for the time being. He could feel the twitching between his legs as his cervix continued in its dilation, and the kids were getting restless inside of him, and it was altogether uncomfortable. And yet, Bruce found strength. Strength to keep going. Strength to bring their children into the world. Strength to perform a goddamn miracle. 

“You ready for this?” Tony asked softly, breath brushing against his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. “Ready to have some babies?” 

Bruce found hope in his eyes and smiled before giving a small nod. He was scared, sure - hell, he was fucking terrified. It was a complicated case, and no one knew exactly what to expect of the children growing inside of him. Things had been normal by all other accounts, but labor had started six weeks early. And his doubts were hitting at full force, and the pain was damn near unbearable, but it was all drowned out beneath the knowing that he was finally going to get to hold them in his arms. 

“Let’s do this.” Bruce gripped tighter to Tony’s hand, and smiled. “Let’s have some babies.”

 

\----

 

The contractions were getting closer together, and all the more unbearable. He let out a scream, unable to hold it back any longer, holding tight to the bottle cap pendant, and tighter to Tony’s hand. Even with the gamma blockers through the entire room, he could feel the Hulk straining just beneath the skin. Even his palms had begun to take on a greenish tint. With each contraction, he felt a little bit closer to hell. 

As the contraction ended, Bruce fell back onto bed, sweat dripping down his face and face red with the effort. He struggled to catch his breath as he caught sight of the doctor entering the room. He'd dropped in a few times before, but something told him that he wouldn't be leaving again until after these babies were born. He was nearing full dilation, and he was nearly ready to push. 

“You're doing great, Bruce. I'm so proud of you.” Tony murmured, pushing a hand through sweat-soaked curls, in some attempt at consolation. Even with a hand that was certainly broken and the sound of Bruce’s grunts and screams echoing through the room every three minutes, Tony was damn certain that this was going to be the best day of his life. “Do you know how much I love you? Do you know how beautiful you are?”

“Piss off.” Bruce panted with a small smile as the alpha leaned down to kiss his forehead. Tony was rarely so tender with him, the only other times being in the aftermath of a Hulk out, and sometimes in the throes of heat. Still, he'd take it where he could get it, savoring in the affection as the doctor took a seat beside them. 

“I’m glad I took this case when you two first came around looking for a doctor. I like you two.” He chuckled, leaning over the omega’s charts. A familiar face, the same doctor they'd had since they first found out that he was pregnant. Henry Kotowski, though most opted to call him Dr. K. More folksy that way. Bruce offered a weak smile, unable to offer much more than that, but he'd give what he could. Dr. K offered a small grin in return, though it was quickly replaced with something a bit more solemn expression. A bit too solemn.

“I thought that we might have a little conversation now. Before things get too intense.” He suggested, concern etched over his features. Bruce felt his heart sink as anxiety bubbled up, knowing that look a little too well. It was the same look he’d given patients a hundred times before, and he knew damn well that it was never good news. 

“I know that we’ve talked about the positioning of the babies, and how complicated this delivery might get. Of course, it’s best that the babies come out the old fashioned way, but if need be, I’m prepared to go and get them out myself. What I need to know is this: if things get complicated in there-” 

“No. I’m sorry, no. We’re not having this conversation.” Tony interrupted. 

_“Tony.”_ Bruce spat as he glanced at the alpha, though it was really more like a glare. The anxiety was boiling inside of him, and there were things that they needed to know, things that they needed to be prepared for. Still, Tony stood his ground, expression unwavering. He seemed damn certain that they would not be having this conversation today. 

“No. We’re not having this conversation because it’s not going to happen. Because, Dr. K, we’re going to be walking out of this hospital, and we’re going to go home with three healthy babies and one healthy omega. You know we’re building a house right now? One with four bedrooms - one for me and Bruce, and one for Axel, and one for Aidan, and one for Aileen. Those are their names, and they’re all three coming home with us. Because I built, with my own two hands, three cribs. Hell, Steve Rogers already knitted three onesies that say Big Three, and I will tell you now that Steve Rogers is a slow and terrible knitter. It also happens to be my birthday today, and I always get pretty damn lucky on my birthday. So I need everyone in this room to believe me when I say that only good things are going to happen in this room today… No, I need you to know it. Because I know it.” Tony proclaimed in some grand soliloquy, making damn certain that everyone knew exactly what was going to happen. “Babe, do you know it?” 

Bruce shook his head and smiled. “God, I love you.” He murmured before turning to Dr. K. “I know it.” 

And Christ, he knew it. He knew it with all that was in him. They were leaving this hospital with three healthy babies, no matter what it took. 

 

\----

 

“Dr. Banner, you’re fully dilated now, and I’m gonna need you to push for me, alright? On your next contraction, I’m gonna need you to give us a big, strong push.” Dr. K instructed from between his thighs, fingers probing at the rim of his hole, warm oil spread over the taut ring of muscle in attempt to loosen him up. His body was designed for this, or, at least, that was what he kept telling himself. It was within his nature to carry and deliver, but it certainly was no easy task. 

His teeth grinding, his brain fried, he felt almost as though he had no strength left in him, even before the pushing had even started. But he would try. He would try until he couldn’t anymore. Bruce focused all of his energy between his legs, trying to picture himself opening up. It was clinical, his knowledge of childbirth, little more than a few babies delivered and the diagrams in his textbooks from med school. Still, he tried. He focused, so hard that he barely felt the blood trickling from his palm over the old aluminum pendant, so hard that he could barely hear Tony’s quiet words of praise. 

And then, the contraction hit. 

It was stronger than the others - not more painful, exactly, just stronger. He felt the overwhelming need to push, and so he did just that. A scream escaped from between gritted teeth, eyes clenched shut as he pushed baby number one from his womb and into the birth canal. It was an uncomfortable fit, the pressure building as the head pushed into the passageway between womb and world. But still, there was a shift. A movement. 

“You're doing so good, Bruce.” Tony whispered from beside him, peppering his skin with small kisses. Some attempt at soothing, some attempt at consolation.

Tony watched, almost awestruck as the omega gave another mighty push, and another, like he was born to do just this. As if the very instinct was ingrained in him, like pushing out his brood was in his very DNA. He watched as he strained with each contraction. He watched as Bruce lay there, knees propped up and eyes closed tight. Even through the pain, there was a certain focus. A certain clarity. A certain calm. 

“I can see the head! Baby number one is about to come into full crown. You can do this, Bruce. Just give us one more big push, and the head is out.” 

The pain was dizzying, blinding as the head stretched against his rim. It was like being torn in two, like being lit on fire. It was almost semblant of a Hulk out, the pain of being ripped apart by something bigger than himself. Still, he breathed in deep and pushed through it, sweat dripping down his brow, the pain threatening to split him in two, knowing that there would be reward in the end. Reward greater than pain, reward greater than fear, reward worth every thing that he had been through. 

And then, relief. 

It was temporary, of course, and hardly entirely. But the biggest part was out of him, and he could breathe. In his relief, he fell limp against the mattress, eyes coming in and out of focus as the fluorescent lights danced above his head. He could still feel the pressure between his legs, and knew that he would have to push out the head once the next contraction came, but for a split moment, he savored the relief. 

And then, it came shattering again. 

“Dr. Banner, I need you to stay still. Don't try to push until I tell you, okay? The umbilical is wrapped around the baby’s neck, and I need you to try to relax while I unwrap it.” 

Bruce’s heart stopped in his chest, and the entire world seemed to go silent. Like teetering on the brink of heaven and hell, one wrong move sending him tumbling into the pit. His eyes found Tony’s, and no one spoke a word, the only noise being the rhythmic beeping on the heart-monitor. It was a moment of sheer anticipation, of sheer terror, of dread before the fall. He gripped tight to Tony’s hand, lip quivering as his eyes watered, tears streaming down his face as he waited for the silence to end. As he waited for the first cries of his newborn child.

And then the pain came again. 

Another contraction, and the overwhelming urge to push. It came so violently that it nearly knocked the wind out of him, drawing a sharp cry from his lips as he doubled over in pain. He felt a warm hand steady against his inner thigh, coaxing him down, in some quiet attempt to keep him calm, to keep him from doing any more damage. But the pressure was so overwhelming, and he could feel the second baby pressing against the effacement of his cervix. He needed to push, needed to continue… 

“Bruce, I need you to stop pushing. I’m almost done. Just focus. You can do this.” The doctor assured as Bruce struggled for control over his own body. Steady his heartbeat, calm his nerves, relax his muscles. As the contraction eased off, he lay perfectly still, returning to the silence…

“Alright, Bruce, one more big push and we’ll have this first baby out. Just one more.” He called from between his legs. With sleepy, determined, hopeful eyes, he found Tony, offering a weak smile. One more push. Just one more.

His contraction came and he did as he was instructed, pushing through the pain, until the tremendous relief came flooding, followed by the most beautiful sound that he’d ever heard in his life.

The cries of his firstborn. 

Somewhere far away, Bruce registered their words. Some vaguely registered ‘he’, some almost understood phrase about their firstborn son. Axel, they’d call him, in part to appease Tony’s love for Guns N’ Roses. He faintly registered the chaos around him as he began to drift away, lungs burning and contractions beginning anew, but he was too weak to so much as keep his eyes open. Something was different, something was… Wrong.

“Bruce?” Tony called when he stopped responding, when the omega’s hand went limp in his. He looked pale, cold, eyes fluttering as they struggled to stay open. His breaths were shallow and weak, wheezing with every breath, like he couldn’t quite manage to pull enough air into his lungs. “Bruce!”

“He’s in distress.” Dr. K called, passing his son off to someone else before waving silent instructions to the rest of the staff. Tony stood hovering over his omega, until they pulled him away, leaving him straining against their hold as he watched them take away his omega. “We're gonna have to go in and get the other two.”

Tony couldn't feel anything. Everything went numb as he drifted away from his own body, head spinning as they wheeled Bruce out of the room. It was chaos and it was terrifying and it drew the alpha to his knees, watching as they took the only things that mattered to him away. 

Dr. K materialized in front of him somehow, drawing his attention toward him. He stared up at the doctor through bleary eyes, lips quivering and entire body shaking. “I need to be with him. We’re a team, he can't do this without me, and I can't… I need to be with him. I need to be with him, where is he?” Tony begged hazily, as though the whole ordeal had drained him of reason and logic and anything that wasn't Bruce Banner.

“This is why I wanted to have this conversation earlier. Bruce’s body isn’t able to handle the stress of childbirth, so I need to take the reins right now and make sure that your omega and your children make it out alive. I'm going to do my best to take care of your family, but right now, I need you to do two things for me. I need you to trust me, and I need you to stay the hell out of my way.” 

 

\----

 

Bruce woke to the smell of antiseptic and the sound of his own heart beating on a monitor. It was only one heartbeat, as opposed to the four that had been ringing through the room throughout the entirety of his labor. There was no bustle of chaos, no one encouraging him to push anymore, no cold, prodding fingers at his hole. He waited, and no contractions came. He could feel the dull nag of pain, between his legs, across his belly, filled by what he assumed to be morphine. It was over. Labor and delivery was over. Now, the aftermath. 

Eyes closed, something within him felt hollow. Empty. There was no gentle movement of life beneath the surface, the heavy, almost comforting weight in his midsection gone. The children that he had carried inside of his womb for so long were no longer tucked safely beneath his ribs, and they weren’t in his arms where they belonged. For the first time in nearly nine months, Bruce Banner was alone. 

His eyes felt heavy as he struggled to open them, the flickering fluorescent lights nearly blinding. Every movement was heavy and weary, like he had gone through too much and needed time to reset. Still, he rolled his head to the side, catching glimpse of his alpha in the chair beside him. 

“Hi.” Bruce croaked, throat hoarse. 

Tony blinked back into awareness, like he had been drifting somewhere far away. His eyes were puffy, like he’d been crying. Hardly eyes of a new father. Hardly eyes of someone who should've been rejoicing. Bruce could feel his heartbeat quickening, the monitor picking up on his nerves, betraying him. Something was wrong. 

“Hi.” Tony murmured, leaning forward to run a hand through his curls. “You're awake. You're alright.” It sounded like a reassurance to himself more than anything. Like Tony was reminding himself that it would be okay.

“I'm okay.” Bruce murmured hazily, raising a hand to rub the sleep from his eyes before resting it on his belly. It was still distended, and tender from the stitches, but it would go down within the next few weeks, once he started breastfeeding and his womb returned to its normal size. Surgery would probably be necessary to trim the excess skin, but it was the furthest thing from his mind. “Where are the babies?”

“Axel and Aileen are down in the nursery. They're doing good. Neither of them are green, so that's promising.” Tony teased, though Bruce could already tell that he was putting up a front. His heart wasn't in it. “They're beautiful, Bruce. Absolutely beautiful. Your eyes, both of them. That really pretty dark brown. Aileen has the little green ring around her pupils like you do, so we'll need to keep an eye on her, make sure we don't have a baby Hulk running around, but all of her vitals are good, and Bruce, babe, I gotta tell you, she's gorgeous. Looks just like you, curls and all. And Axel, little bald man, I think he's gonna take after me. But Bruce… They're wonderful. They're so wonderful.” 

“Aidan?” Bruce croaked, though he already somehow knew what was coming. Something had gone wrong. 

“Baby… Listen, this wasn't your fault, it was nobody's fault.” Tony whispered, hands pushing through the omega’s curls. “Aidan… He… He didn’t… His oxygen levels were low, Bruce. He was… Jesus, he was so _tiny._ They said his lungs weren’t developed enough… They put him on a vent, and he… He, uh… About an hour after, he had a seizure. He's brain dead, Bruce.” 

Bruce blinked. Once, twice. No tears came to his eyes. No pain hit him the way that it was supposed to. Nothing really hit him at all. Nothing really registered, nothing really processed. Denial, surely, his brain shutting down to cope with the trauma ingrained in those words. Brain dead. Certainly not.

“No, no, 32 weeks is perfectly within the range of viability. His lungs should be mostly developed, he should be fine.” Bruce protested, trying to rationalize all the reasons why his son couldn’t possibly be dead. “32 weeks is perfectly within the range of viability. You’re lying, he’s… He’s fine. He’s fine.” 

“Bruce…” Tony murmured, reaching forward to touch him, to offer something like comfort as the omega jerked away hard. 

“Don’t.” He hissed, raising a hand defensively. “Don’t touch me, I want to see my son.” 

“Bruce, I-”

“I’m going to see him, I want to see him.” Bruce protested, pulling back the covers as he tugged the wires from his arms, pulling himself free as he struggled to his feet, only to be pulled back by Tony, refusing to let him go. Bruce struggled, struggling until Tony pulled him down and held him against the bed, pinning him down and refusing to let him go.

“Bruce, you just came out of surgery. You just gave birth. You need to stay here, okay? You’re a doctor, you know damn well that you need to rest.” Tony reasoned, until the omega settled down. Still, the realization didn’t hit. His mind was racing, almost like it did just before a Hulk out, wild and chaotic and altogether terrifying. But still, it refused to process. Tears didn’t come. Pain didn’t come. All that was left was the cold. 

He reached up to curl a scraped hand around his pendant, the one thing that had comforted him all these years, the one thing that he had made certain to keep, no matter where he went or what he did. He reached up to find it, but his fingers grasped at nothing. He glanced down, finding the place where it usually lay bare. His hand sweeped his neck, searching for the chain, but only found more of the same. Nothing. 

“Where’s my necklace?” He breathed, sitting upright to search the bed around him. 

“What?” Tony blinked.

“My necklace. The one my mom gave to me when I was a kid, the bottle cap with the stars on it, I had it on, where is it?” 

“I… I don’t know, they might have… I don’t know, it might’ve come off when they wheeled you back. I don’t know, I’ll have someone go look for it. It’ll be alright.” 

Panic began to rise in his throat as he searched the sheets, feeling the tug in his abdomen, begging him to lie still, but he refused to care. He had to find it. It was the last thing that he had left of her, the only thing that he had of her. It had been his strength, it had been his comfort, and he needed it. He _needed_ it.

“No, no, I need it now, I…” His chest began to heave as he pulled the pillows, the blankets, throwing them into the floor until he was clawing at the very sheets, until tears were building in his eyes and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

There it was.

The pain hit him square in the chest, leaving him dizzy and unable to focus, every inch of him trembling with the force of it. His chest began to heave as ragged sobs wracked through his body, head clouded as the tears began to fall and he understood the magnitude of what was happening. He knew what was happening. He knew what was going to happen. He had failed his alpha, he had failed his children. He had failed.

 _“No…”_ Bruce whimpered as Tony’s arms curled around him, holding him protectively, lips pressing against his forehead. He sobbed until the tears soaked through Tony’s clothes, sobbed until the pain erupted in his chest, sobbed until the tears refused to come any longer, sobbed until the stitches tore. He sobbed until the very heavens knew his sorrow.


End file.
